TOWARD A THEOLOGY OF EDUCATION

by

Lisa Anderson-Umana

B.S., Penn State University, 1982

M.A., Wheaton College Graduate School, 1993

FINAL PROJECT

Submitted to the faculty

in partial fulfillment of the requirements

ES 9700 Theological Foundations of Christian Education, Perry Downs

for the degree of

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

Educational Studies

at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School

Deerfield, Illinois

January 2012

Copyright © 2012 by Lisa Anderson-Umana

All rights reserved

iii

CONTENTS

List of Illustrations ........................................................................................................ v

List of Tables ............................................................................................................... vi

Chapter

1. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................ 1

Assumptions in writing my theology of education ............................... 2

Organization of my theology of education ........................................... 5

2. BOX A: HUMAN’S ULTIMATE PURPOSE ................................................. 10

To glorify God and enjoy him forever .................................................. 10

Education as a redemptive activity ....................................................... 14

3. BOX B: NATURE OF REALITY .................................................................... 15

Nature of God ....................................................................................... 16

Nature of Creation................................................................................. 17

Nature of persons .................................................................................. 19

Nature of sin .......................................................................................... 21

Nature of redemption ............................................................................ 26

Epistemology: How do we know? ........................................................ 32

Role of the Holy Spirit in education .................................................... 40

Nature of the church as an institution and as a community ................. 41

4. BOX C: AIMS OF EDUCATION ................................................................... 43

Aim: Development towards Christilikeness ....................................... 43

Nature of development ......................................................................... 45

iv

5. BOX D: MEANS OF EDUCATION ................................................................ 47

Internal factors in educating.................................................................. 47

External factors in educating ................................................................ 48

Priesthood of all believers ..................................................................... 48

Curriculum broadly understood ............................................................ 49

Explicit dimension-Content .................................................................. 50

Implicit dimension of curriculum ......................................................... 51

Null dimension ...................................................................................... 52

The Teacher-Incarnated dimension....................................................... 53

Student—whom is taught? .................................................................... 55

Methodology—How is it taught?.......................................................... 57

Institutional structure ............................................................................ 61

6. BOX E: PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS FOR EDUCATION ........................ 63

7. CONCLUSION ................................................................................................. 67

REFERENCE LIST ...................................................................................................... 68

v

ILLUSTRATIONS

Figure Page

1. My role as director of leadership development for CCI/LA ............................ 4

2. Frankena (1965) model of a philosophy of education ...................................... 6

3. Frankena (1965) boxes arranged in concentric circles ..................................... 6

4. A linear timeline of history ............................................................................... 12

5. Education as a redemptive activity (Downs 2011) ........................................... 14

6. Six dimensions of curriculum ........................................................................... 50

7. Three rail fence (originally Ted Ward and Sam Roven 1972) .......................... 59

vi

TABLES

Table Page

1. May key for a linear timeline of history (Downs 2011) .................................. 13

2. Sin resulted in four broken relationships (Downs 2012) .................................. 25

3. Use of the prefix re-in synonyms for redemption ............................................. 28

4. Summary of General and Special revelation (Downs 2011, 2012) ................. 35

5. Aims from a Christian perspective contrasted with mis-directed aims

(Plueddemann 2007) ........................................................................................ 44

1

INTRODUCTION

After having spent some 30-years in cross-cultural educational ministry in

Latin America, the time has come to pause and clarify my bearings through the exercise of

writing down my theology of education. The challenge has been not to explain what I

already do in education and then try and justify it theologically, which no doubt would be

like unto the challenge preachers face in not using the Bible to proof-text their own

thoughts. This is not to say that I have not given sustained thought about why and how I

educate. During my Master’s degree in Educational Ministries at Wheaton, I took a number

of classes with Jim Plueddemann. Plueddemann (1986) calls for a similar process to

examine and renew your beliefs about Christian Education beginning with the analysis of

your presuppositions and values about education. He recognizes how difficult this is given

the fact that most educators are swamped by everyday problems, not to mention that our

presuppositions are usually below our conscious radar. To help, Plueddemann describes a

number of dominant metaphors in education to help you identify your beliefs and then he

guides you to analyze each metaphor both in light of Scripture and in light of social science

research. When I first went through that process, I discovered how I had unconsciously

adopted a number of unbiblical metaphors because I was following how I had been taught

but had never stopped to examine its philosophical underpinnings. In much the same

manner, this project has prompted me along a similar path.

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My theology informs how I teach, the manner in which I address the

students and how they address me, the methods I choose, and the way I live in general.

There must be congruency between what I believe theologically and my craft as an

educator. The occasion of writing a substantial paper on the subject has caused me to pause

long and hard to read, study, listen to others, and organize my thoughts on paper. This

process of writing has pressed me to think intentionally about what I believe theologically

and its implications for education. With this paper I am cultivating the habit of theological

reflection. “Theology is the way we construct reality since all things and all events have

their existence in relation to God. A distinctly Christian worldview demands that all areas

of life be understood through a theoretical framework” (Downs 2011, 102). Therefore, as an

educator, all my educational theory and practice should be reflected on theologically. In this

process I have discovered a number of assumptions which I hold to be true.

Assumptions in writing my theology of education

Assumption #1: The title “Toward a theology of education” depicts my

belief that forming one’s theology is a life-long process. This process should be done with

humble confidence rather than proud certainty since now “we see things imperfectly as in a

cloudy mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is

partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows

me completely” (I Cor 13:12 NLT). Even though our knowledge will never be complete

“this side of heaven,” as human beings we are intrinsically motivated to search for meaning,

to figure things out. Down through the ages, many highly qualified scholars and laypeople

3

have written extensively about Christian beliefs and doctrines. Even so, no perfectly

articulated theology exists. No doubt, over time, study, experience, and input from others I

will have to retrofit my theology of education, furnishing it with new or modified beliefs

and practices that were not part of my understanding at this time. I will strive to keep an

open mind toward positive elements in other theologies.

Assumption #2: I understand this theology of education to be part of my

overarching philosophy or worldview. I understand philosophy to be an academic term

encompassing the classic categories of metaphysics, epistemology, and axiology (ethics and

aesthetics) (Knight 1989). When I speak of worldview I am using the definition created by

James Sire (2004a), “A worldview is a commitment, a fundamental orientation of the heart,

that can be expressed as a story or in a set of presuppositions (assumptions, that may be

true, partially true or false) which we hold (consciously or subconsciously) about the basic

constitution of reality, and that provides that foundation on which we live and move and

have our being.” Sire recognizes that a worldview is not just expressed as set of

presuppositions, but also can be expressed in a story or meta-narrative. He also identifies

that your worldview is not just cognitive but it is how your heart is oriented and committed.

We all have a worldview, true or untrue, whether we can articulate it or not. My theology

and worldview should spring from Scripture, the final authority for the Christian.

Assumption #3: This paper articulates my aspirations but not necessarily my

achievements in education. Even though my theology is incomplete and in formation, I am

committed to act in accordance with my current understanding and strive to orient my heart

in that direction.

4

Let me briefly describe the context of my practice. There are three main

components: (1) Latin America; (2) Christian Camping; (3) Leadership development and

training. I have lived in Latin America for almost 3 decades and while I reside in Honduras,

I travel and teach throughout Mexico, Central and South America. From the very beginning

and to this day, my area of service has been Christian Camping. The first five years I served

at a specific campsite outside of Mexico City, after which I began to work with Christian

Camping International, Latin America (CCI/LA), initially as director of training and now as

director of leadership development. My role can be visualized through the use of a pyramid

(Figure 1).

Figure 1: My role as director of leadership development for CCI/LA

The arrow in Figure 1 points to my current focus which is to develop a

multi-cultural team of professors who will teach IFIs—Institute for Forming Instructors.

Until now, just myself and one other North American missionary have been responsible for

teaching these seventeen-day long intensive training events. Over the last 20 years we have

held 10 of them which have formed 200 instructors in 11 countries, who in turn have taught

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600 in-depth courses which have formed 6000 camp counselors and program directors, all

volunteer leaders mostly from local churches. They, in turn, have organized camps which

have impacted for Christ the lives of some 1.2 million children and young people.

Organization of my theology of education

I have chosen to use a philosophical framework that I am familiar with and

is now an integral part of my mental framework. The categories were created by William

Frankena in 1965 for the express purpose of comparing educational philosophies. The

original intent of the author was to prompt educators to move from a solid philosophical

understanding to methodology and practice. Likewise, the thrust of this paper is to prompt

reflection on my theology so as to inform and guide my educational methodology and

practice. The use of this grid both includes and excludes what I do and what I do not

believe and allows me to visualize the connection between each of its quadrants. There are

five boxes, as outlined in the Figure 1: Frankena (1965) model of a philosophy of

education.

6

Figure 2: Frankena (1965) model of a philosophy of education

Arranging the boxes in concentric circles depicts more clearly that without

the Core, Box A, the whole system collapses (Plueddemann, 1992).

Figure 3 Frankena (1965) boxes arranged in concentric circles

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The boxes will organize my theology of education. Box A will answer the

question of what is our ultimate purpose on earth, why were human beings created. Box B

will review numerous points related to the nature of reality, like the nature of God,

Creation, persons, the Fall, Redemption, the Church, and epistemology as they relate to

education. Box C outlines the specific aims of education, informed directly from the

ultimate purpose. Box D explains the practical implications of my theology as it relates to

the educational concerns of content, curriculum, student, teacher, methodology, and

institutional structure focused on accomplishing the ultimate purpose and specific aims of

education. Box D is informed as well by the nature of reality. Box E would be the practical

outworking of our theology, what someone could observe if he or she watched us teach.

The advantage of visualizing my theology in this framework is to facilitate

testing it from a philosophical point of view. It can be tested by four questions (Downs

2012): (1) Consistency (logic): Does the knowledge in one box contradict other

knowledge?, (2) Coherency: Does the content in all the boxes make sense as a whole,

relating well to my worldview?, (3) Comprehension: Does this knowledge displayed in the

boxes relate to all of the world as we know it, encompassing all experience?, (4)

Congruent: Does it match with reality, with what really is? In other words, is it liveable,

providing meaning and satisfaction to life? For instance if I say that God has made human

beings in his image and has conferred on us dignity and value, (Box B), it would be

incongruent for me to use a method of teaching that humiliates and ridicules students (Box

D). But, knowing that human beings are fallen, we do not always live according to what we

know to be true. Christians are forgiven but not yet perfected people. This does not excuse

8

hypocrisy but our Biblically informed worldview makes clear that we are fallen, in need of

forgiveness and restoration (Coleman 2007). One could conceive of the need for our Boxes

D and E to grow closer and closer in alignment with what we believe in Boxes A, B and C.

The arrows in the Frankena model demonstrate how each of the quadrants is

interrelated and contiguous upon the other. Our ultimate purpose (Box A) is related to how

we view the nature of reality (Box B). Box D shows the means we use to reach our ultimate

purpose and specific educational aims (Boxes A and C) and are contingent as well on our

view of the nature of what is right and wrong (Box B). At the same time, there will be a

practical outworking of our entire theology in the context in which we live and teach (Box

E).

One caveat is in order regarding developing a theology of education as with

any discussion on philosophy or worldview. Coleman describes it well with the following

scenario:

The danger of worldview talk is that it remains just that: talk, talk, talk.

Some Christian thinkers have noted this danger. In his own inimitable style,

Søren Kierkegaard imagined this scenario. When Christians die and go to

heaven they will be confronted by two doors. One will have this sign on it,

‘Heaven.’ The other will have, ‘Lecture on Heaven.’ He thought most

Christians would go the lecture! Put another way, the trouble is that

worldview thinking can be like sharpening a knife but never cutting

anything. Coleman 2007, 23

My hope is that this analysis will sharpen my knife in order to better partner

with God in the work he has called me to south of the Rio Grande. My prayer for all who

read this paper: “So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him,

rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing

with thankfulness. See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive

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philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather

than on Christ” (Col. 2:6-8)1.Through the reading of this theology of education I hope to

have clarify the basic principles of Christ and contrast a Christian worldview with some of

the hollow and deceptive principles of worldly philosophies so that you may be rooted and

built up in him, strengthened in the Christian faith and overflowing with thankfulness.

1 Scripture quotations, unless otherwise stated, are cited from

the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION (NIV). Copyright ©

1973, 1978, 1984, 2011.

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BOX A: HUMAN’S ULTIMATE PURPOSE

To glorify God and enjoy him forever

What is the ultimate purpose of life? Centuries ago, in the Westminster

Catechism, a child was taught to respond to the question what is the chief end of man? with

this answer: To glorify God and enjoy him forever. My husband and I have this very

response inscribed on our dining room wall in large letters, placed there to remind our

family and all who enter our home what we believe is our raison d'être. Is 43:7 speaks of

why God created us: “Everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory,

whom I formed and made.” John 10:10 speaks of the deep fulfillment that comes from

living life in relationship with God: “I have come that they may have life and have it

abundantly.” This ultimate purpose contrasts with the humanist purpose which could be

summarized like this: The chief end of every human being is to become self-actualized and

to create a perfect or ideal human society.

“To glorify God is a claim of exclusive loyalty; it demands that you place no

other gods before him. It asserts that there is a God who will have our devotion. It refutes

humanist autonomy (idol making) and tolerance of other gods (idol worship). The holiness

of God is a proper concern of education. The awesome, overwhelming, terror-evoking

reality of God is not instrumental. It is an end in itself. Thus the proper goal of human

existence is indeed ‘to glorify God and enjoy him forever.’ The holiness of God redefines

our life and our purposes” (Brueggemann 1982, 36).

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God’s glory has its Christian competitors. It is easy to become confused

about ultimate purpose and with good intentions place Bible knowledge, good church

programs or social justice activities in Box A. Having children memorize Bible verses can

be a means to godliness, as can be reaching out to the poor in materials goods, but in

themselves they do not automatically contribute to the glory of God. If we place anything

other than God’s glory as our ultimate purpose, they become idols. It is easy to confuse

means with ends.

Plueddemann (2007) notes that the issue of motivation plays a role in our

ultimate purpose, we can do the right things, but with the wrong motivation. Only God

discerns our heart condition, and he is concerned not only with what we do, but also with

our motives. People look on outward behavior, but God is more interested in the heart and

asks that whatever we do, we do it for his glory (1 Cor 10:31).

God’s ultimate purpose for humanity is revealed to us as we look back over

history from the beginning of time as recorded in the Bible. It is worth noting that the

meaning of history from the Christian theistic worldview is that history is compared to a

road or pathway; a meaningful sequence of events leading to the fulfillment of God’s

purposes for humanity. Titus 1:1-3 alludes to the fact that God’s purposes start before time

began and continue to be fulfilled at his appointed times. “Paul, a servant of God and an

apostle of Jesus Christ for the faith of God's elect and the knowledge of the truth that leads

to godliness— a faith and knowledge resting on the hope of eternal life, which God, who

does not lie, promised before the beginning of time, and at his appointed season he brought

his word to light through the preaching entrusted to me by the command of God our Savior”

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(Titus 1:1-3). History is a good source for discerning and visualizing God’s ultimate

purpose for humanity.

History is linear meaning that the actions of people—as confusing and

chaotic and ungodly as they appear—are part of a meaningful sequence that

has a beginning, a middle and an end. History is not reversible, not

repeatable, and not cyclical; history is not meaningless. History is going

somewhere, directed toward a known end. The God who knows the end from

the beginning is aware of and sovereign over the actions of humankind.

History itself is a form of revelation. History, (especially as localized in the

Jewish people) is the record of the involvement of God in human events.

History is the divine purpose of God in concrete form. An individual’s

choices have meaning to that person, to others and to God. History is the

result of those choices that, under the sovereignty of God, bring about God’s

purpose for this world. Sire 2004a, 42-43

The Judeo-Christian view of history reveals God's salvific purpose

throughout the centuries. God is an active party; he has taken the initiative and confronts

man. There is a beginning, creation, and an end, when Christ returns. It's optimistic in the

long run, but it's pessimistic in the short run, things will get worse before they get better.

(Rev 20-21). Figure 2 illustrates a linear timeline of history which serves to visualize the

ultimate purpose of education from a theological perspective.

Figure 4: A linear timeline of history

13

For the purpose of explaining the illustration in Figure 3: A linear timeline

of history, a Map Key has been provided in Table1. A brief paragraph summarizing the

main point will be provided below, using Perry Down’s (2011) summary of each of the

historical landmark events or epochs. Further on in the paper, each point will be explored

more in depth.

Table 1: Map Key for a linear timeline of history (Downs 2011)

Creation The story begins with the creation narrative, affirming that all that is comes from God. There is no dualism—in

the beginning there was only God. The material world emerged from God’s creative will and activity. It was

God who created the material world and declared it good.

The Fall The peace and beauty of the original creation is quickly marred. The Bible does not tell us why God created

Satan—he simply shows up. Unlike Buddhism, which believes in a dualistic reality, Scripture presents Satan as

a created being. He is a smooth talker who attacks both God’s word (Has God really said… Gen 3:2) and God’s

willingness to act in judgment (You will not surely die… Gen 3:4). The woman believes the lie, the man joins

her in eating the forbidden fruit, and God’s Shalom is vandalized, as Plantinga (1995) describes it. The

consequences of this act are staggering. The serpent is cursed, the woman is cursed, the man is cursed, and all

of creation is cursed. Our first parents were driven from the garden, and the created order has suffered ever

since. We now live in a messy, fallen world that, while maintaining aspects of God’s original intention, has

been broken and marred by our rebellion.

Old

Testament

In the Genesis 3 narrative appears the proto-evangelism, the first gospel, promising God’s redemptive action in

this fallen world. The biblical narrative moves on to tell God’s redemptive activity throughout history as God

calls the world back to its original intention and condition. Through the patriarchs, the law, the nation of Israel,

and the prophets, the Old Testament tells of God’s redemptive initiative and plans for this fallen world.

The Cross The climax of the biblical drama of redemption is the cross, where Jesus offers himself as the final sacrifice to

bring about God’s redemption. Just as the implications of the fall were cosmic, so the results of the death of our

Lord are cosmic. The Apostle Paul writes, “For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and

through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace

through his blood, shed on the cross” (Col 1:19-20). While God’s redemptive work includes the redemption of

human beings, it is much larger than that. It extends to the full results of the fall, redeeming all that had been

impacted by God’s curse.

The

Gospels

The Gospels give tantalizing insight into what the restored order will be like, the lame walk, the deaf hear, and

the blind see. Just as significantly, sinners repent and make restitution, and the people proclaim the glory and

goodness of God. We see the in-breaking of God’s Kingdom into the created order and have glimpses of what

the new order will be like.

Now and

not yet of

the

Kingdom

of God

For now, we live in the now and not yet of the Kingdom of God. It is in us now as the people of God, but it is

not yet in its fullness. Hence we are taught to pray for the coming of the Kingdom in its fullness. But as we

wait, we are invited to participate in God’s redemptive activity in the world now. We can call people to bow

before Christ as Lord now, and we can work to return things back to their rightful owner to be used for his

glory. A proper view of the task and purpose of education is to understand it within the context of redemption.

God is at work in the world redemptively, and we as educators who call ourselves Christian must see our work

as a means of participation in God’s redemptive work in the world. Our work as educators must be understood

within the larger picture of God’s work in this fallen world.

Second

Coming

The biblical story climaxes at the cross and culminates in the new order envisioned in Revelation 21 and 22.

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Education as a redemptive activity

In short for Box A, connecting with our ultimate purpose which is to glorify

God and enjoy him forever, the purpose of education as seen within a theological

framework and historical timeline is one of participating in God’s redemptive activity. If

someone asks me why I teach, my answer would be: To glorify God and enjoy him forever

by participating with him as an educator in his redemptive activity. Figure 3 illustrates the

place education holds from a theological perspective.

Figure 5: Education as a redemptive activity in a linear timeline of history (Downs 2011)

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BOX B: THE NATURE OF REALITY

Box B in philosophical terms is metaphysical in that it explains reality,

answering the questions of what is real, what is out there, and what is it like? This section

will generally follow the timeline of history in that it contains brief descriptions of the

nature of God, Creation, Persons, Sin, and Redemption. Then I will describe the nature of

things that relate directly to educational concerns like epistemology, the Church as an

institution and community of believers, and the role of the Holy Spirit.

It should be noted that on each of these subjects entire encyclopedic volumes

have been written by scholars who possess far superior knowledge and understanding than

I. The purpose of this project is not to write down everything that is known on a given

subject but for me to demonstrate a grasp of the basic theological beliefs that I hold and

detail how they influence my practice of education. My guiding question throughout this

process has been: How do my theological beliefs matter in reference to my practice as an

educator?

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Nature of God1

The nature of ultimate reality is God. God is infinite and personal (triune),

transcendent and immanent, omniscient, sovereign and good. God is infinite, meaning he is

beyond scope, beyond measure. He is, in fact, the only self-existent being: “I AM WHO I

AM” Ex 3:14.God is personal. God is not a mere force or energy. God is self-conscious, he

knows himself to be, and he thinks and acts (self-determination). God is transcendent. God

is beyond us and beyond our world. God is immanent. But not so beyond that he bears no

relation to us and our world, he is with us. God is here, everywhere. For God is not matter

like us, but Spirit. God is beyond all, yet in all and sustaining all (Heb 1:3). God is

omniscient. God is all-knowing. He is the alpha and the omega and knows the beginning

from the end (Rev 22:13). God is sovereign. God pays attention to all the actions of his

universe. Nothing is beyond God’s ultimate interest, control and authority. God is good.

This is the prime statement about God’s character. From it flows all others. God’s goodness

is expressed in two ways, through holiness and through love. Holiness is his absolute

righteousness, there is an absolute standard found in God’s character (I John 1:5). Secondly,

God is love (I John 4:16) therefore there is hope for humanity because God is love and will

not abandon his creation (Sire 2004a, 26-44).

1 I am indebted to James Sire (2004a, 2004b) for ideas on the composite I created to

describe the Natures of God, Creation, and Persons from a Christian, humanist (modern), and post-modern

worldview.

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God is triune. “Within the one essence of the Godhead we have to

distinguish three ‘persons’ who are neither three gods on the one side, not three parts or

modes of God on the other, but coequally and coeternally God” (Bromiley 1960).

Nature of Creation

God created the cosmos as a uniformity of cause and effect in an open

system. Meaning that the universe is orderly (Is. 45:18-19), there is a regularity to it and the

nature of God’s universe and God’s character are closely related. The system is open. This

means it is not programmed. God is constantly involved in the unfolding pattern of the

ongoing operation of the universe. And so are we human beings! The course of the world’s

operation is open to reordering (ie. miracles, supernatural occurrences) and we reorder it by

our continued activity after the Fall. If the universe were not orderly, our decisions would

have no effect. In contrast, a humanistic philosophy sees the natural world existing as a

uniformity of cause and effect in a closed system. The universe is not open to reordering

from the outside—either by a transcendent Being (for there is none) or, by self-transcendent

or autonomous human beings (for they are part of the uniformity). Nothing supernatural

exists, there are no such things as miracles; everything can be explained by rational

arguments (Sire 2004a, 26-44).

God is qualitatively different from the created world, God is over His

creation and the world is dependent upon God (Ps 93). God is in loving and total control of

creation. He sustains the world. “Creation was the webbing together of God, humans, and

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all creation in justice, fulfillment, and delight in what the Hebrew prophets call Shalom. In

the Bible, Shalom means universal flourishing, wholeness, and delight—a rich state of

affairs in which natural needs are satisfied and natural gifts fruitfully employed, a state of

affairs that inspires joyful wonder as its Creator welcomes the creatures in whom he

delights” ((Plantinga 1995, 10). Shalom, in other words, was the way things were in the

Garden of Eden, is the way things ought to be now, and will not be again until Christ

returns.

Creation mandate

Why did God make creation? For his glory and good pleasure (Eph 1:3-14).

His creation is open and dependent on him as he actively sustains it and allows human

beings to discover its order, design, and structure. The nature of what God made is that it is

good. On repeated occasions (Gen 1: 10, 12, 18, 21, 25) God’s own evaluation of what he

had created was: God saw all that he had made, and it was very good (Gen 1:31). “The

innate goodness of all God has made is inherent in its very structure. Sometimes, given the

pervasiveness of the Fall, that good structure is obscured from view for its direction has

shifted from one of goodness to evil” (Wolters 2005).

What is our role in creation? Genesis 1:28 gives human beings the creation

mandate: “God blessed them and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the

earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every

living creature that moves on the ground.’” We are stewards of God’s creation and in this

capacity we are to know and understand what God has made, being careful not to exploit it

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for our own selfish good. We are to develop and improve it, since God said it was good, but

he did not declare it as complete, it still needs stewardship. “In the human realm men and

women become coworkers with God, as creatures made in his image they too have a kind

of lordship over the earth, we are God’s viceroys in creation (Wolters 2005, 16).

Nature of persons

Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that

they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the

livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along

the ground.” So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God

he created them; male and female he created them. Gen1:26-27

Human beings are created in the image of God and thus possess personality,

self-transcendence, intelligence, morality, gregariousness and creativity (Gen 1:26-27; Gen

5:3; 9:6). We are like God, made in his image, Imago Dei. We are personal because he is

personal. That is, we know ourselves to be (self-conscious), and we make decisions

uncoerced (self-determination). We are capable of acting on our own; we do not merely

react to our environment but can act according to our own character, our own nature (Sire

2004a, 26-44).

Human beings are eternal but not divine. There is life after man's physical

death and his spirit will live eternally in heaven or hell depending on whether his name is

written in the Lamb's Book of Life. “Nothing impure will ever enter it [heaven], nor will

anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in

the Lamb's book of life” (Rev 21:27). People have free will, they are not forced to obey

God. God does not control and coerce us. Pre-destination and free will are a paradox and I

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believe we must learn to live with that ambiguity. We, like the Triune God who created us

are made for community. We are finite beings, capable of knowing, but only subjectively

and in part. God has structured man to be in relationship with him, we are ordered toward

him, “we have a God-shaped void.”

When looking at the nature of persons as learners, children are neither blank

slates to write on nor empty vessels to fill. Social scientists have discovered that God has

designed human beings to have certain underlying structures and patterns of growth or

stages that are universally visible or observable. In a conversation with famed educator Ted

Ward, he compares the stage structure of persons to the framework under a bridge. The

bridge carries the load of the traffic, and the structure bears the weight. With each new

stage of growth and development the progression is similar to strengthening the buttresses

of the bridge, the buttresses are not removed and replaced, they are solidified.

In contrast, Sire (2004a, 214-241), points out a behavioristic view of human

beings believes that we are complex “machines”; personality is an interrelation of chemical

and physical properties not yet fully understood. Human beings are simply a part of the

cosmos. In the cosmos there is one substance: matter. The laws applying to matter apply to

persons, they do not transcend the universe in any way. They are however, unique among

animals because humans alone are capable of conceptual thought, employ speech, possess a

cumulative tradition (culture) and have had a unique method of evolution (Huxley 1948).

Human beings are fundamentally good if they are surrounded by the right environment.

A postmodernist would likely believe that there is no substantial self. Human

beings make themselves who they are by the languages they construct about themselves. So

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there is a shift from the (1) the “premodern” theistic notion that human beings are dignified

by being created in the image of God to (2) the “modern” notion that human beings are the

product of their DNA template, which itself is the result of unplanned evolution based on

chance mutations and the survival of the fittest, to (3) the “postmodern” notion that we are

what we describe ourselves to be. Stories give communities their cohesive character. People

believe these stories to be true, so they function in society as if they were true. Groups of

people believe the same basic story, and the result is more or less stable communities (Sire

2004a, 214-241).

Nature of sin

In the beginning all that God created was good, Adam and Eve enjoyed

sweet communion with their God and creator. Creation existed in perfect harmony between

humans, animals, and plant life. All was Shalom, the way it was supposed to be. We do not

know how long these conditions existed on earth before one fine day Adam and Eve

exercised their free will—in the wrong direction. Tempted by Satan, a former angelic being,

they rebelled against God’s command and in that precise moment, the course of history

changed forever. Gen 3:1-24 describes the entire scene, here are the first seven verses:

Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD

God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not

eat from any tree in the garden’?” The woman said to the serpent, “We may

eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat

fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch

it, or you will die.’” “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the

woman. “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be

opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” When the

woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the

eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She

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also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the

eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so

they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

From that point on, life on earth was never the same. Our sins hide God’s

face from us (John 1:18). Everything shifted from the way God had designed and structured

it to be, to the way it is not supposed to be, to the wrong direction. Our hearts are no longer

Godward oriented, Jeremiah 17:9 describes “the heart as deceitful above all things and

beyond cure. Who can understand it?” To which God himself responds: “I the LORD

search the heart and examine the mind, to reward each person according to their conduct,

according to what their deeds deserve” (Jer 17:10).

Sin did not just break man’s relationships but all the elements of creation

were broken, animal and plant life, and even the earth itself. Now people kill animals,

animals kill each other, and the earth produces catastrophes like earthquakes, hurricanes,

droughts, thorns and thistles. Creation itself groans under the weight of sin (Rom 8:19-22).

Sin is not just an act, it is a condition, a propensity to do wrong, a bent to not

do what we ought and to do what we ought not to do. Plantinga notes: “Sin is a religious

concept... Sin defined is an act or disposition—any thought, desire, emotion, word, or

deed—or its particular absence, that displeases God and deserves blame… It is culpable

Shalom-breaking” (1995, 13). In contrast, sin in today’s modernist and postmodernist era is

a foreign term, even offensive as it implies judgment, and would earn the retort: who are

you to judge me? People’s innate inclination to do wrong is rationalized, justified, glossed

over, covered up, and renamed: Mistake, miscalculation, mis-spoken (is that even a word?),

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moral failure, weakness, caused by low self-esteem, or due to being a victim of some social

ill.

Sin is pervasive and its very character is often hidden from view. The

following describes with more specificity the nature of sin (Plantinga 1995):

Sin begets sin. People rarely commit single sins. Therefore, we tend to sin in clusters.

Secrecy fertilizes evil.

The works of sin are evident and real, but they carry no solid achievements. Nothing

about sin is its own, all it has are stolen goods. Sin has no accomplishments of its own.

It draws its life-source from what God intended to be good in creation, and perverts it,

re-directing it towards evil.

Sin does not build Shalom, it vandalizes it. Goodness is itself; badness is only spoiled

goodness. There must be something good first before it can be spoiled. Consider the

example of someone who has marvelous gifts of leadership and persuasion, but uses

them for evil purposes.

Sin is a parasite and must attach itself to God’s created good in order to exist. It is an

uninvited guest that keeps tapping its host for sustenance. Sin tends to kill and it

reproduces just because, like a virus, it attaches itself to the life force and dynamics of

its host.

Evil fascinates, and makes people feel strangely drawn to pictures and accounts of sin.

With our own sin and often others, we tend to deny, suppress, or minimize what know

we know to be true. First we deceive ourselves and then double back to convince

ourselves that we are not deceiving ourselves.

The presence of evil in creation is tri-fold, Satan, our sinful nature, and the

world under the influence and dominion of Satan. All three of these combine to hinder us

from fulfilling our ultimate purpose, to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. The nature of

Satan is to destroy, “the thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they

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may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10). When he lies, he speaks his native

language, for he is a liar and the father of lies (John 8:44). Lies are a distortion of God's

truth. Satan cannot create truth, he can only distort it. With the advent of Christ, Satan is

like a wounded beast, knowing his time is limited, he is now in his death throes. “Therefore

rejoice, you heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to the earth and the sea, because

the devil has gone down to you! He is filled with fury, because he knows his time is short”

(Rev 12:12).

Satan and the world are like a tag team of wrestlers. The nature of the world

reflects evil because Satan rules and has power over this world. “The god of this age has

blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory

of Christ, who is the image of God” (2 Cor 4:4). Our own sinful nature plays into this

wrestling match since as a result of the Fall there is an evil bent that hinders our spiritual

growth. We are in battle, we will suffer, and be wounded, in need of salvation, healing and

liberation from bondage.

Sin resulted in four broken relationships

Our four relationships were broken and we became alienated from God,

ourselves, others, and from the natural world. Table 2 provides a tiny sample of evidences

of our broken relationships.

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Table 2: Sin resulted in four broken relationships (Downs 2012)

With God We are no longer free in God’s presence, rather we hide from him.

We became by nature objects of wrath (Eph 2:1-3).

We worship idols rather than the Creator.

With one’s self We develop self-destructive behaviors.

We lose sight of the image of God in ourselves and hate ourselves.

We are prideful and believe we can be like God.

We give up our freedom to all types of addictions.

With others We categorize and separate from others on the basis of differences of race, gender,

age, color, size, propensities to sin.

We kill and hurt others.

We compete with others.

We lie, cheat, steal, covet.

With God’s creation We fear animals, insects, or plants.

We exploit creation with complete disregard to replenish it.

We liter, polluting the ground, air and sea.

We worship the creation, ignoring the Creator.

We misuse the land as if we own it.

It should be remembered that any discussion about sin should serve “to

renew our memory of the integrity of creation and to sharpen our eye for the beauty of

grace… To understand sin, you have to see it within the bookends of creation –and

redemption. That is why to speak of sin without grace is to minimize the resurrection of

Jesus Christ, the fruit of the Spirit, the hope of Shalom. But to speak of grace without sin is

surely no better” (Plantinga 1995, xiii, 10). Having spoken of sin, we conclude that human

beings were created good, but through the Fall the image of God became defaced, though

not so ruined as not to be capable of restoration; through the work of Christ, God redeemed

humanity and began the process of restoring people to goodness (Sire 2004a).

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Nature of redemption

The nature of redemption builds on the creation mandate in that we are to

recognize the goodness of what God originally made, how its inherent structure is good.

Then we are to identify, with eyes wide open, the pervasiveness of sin and how it has

tainted all that God called good and has pushed it in the wrong direction, disorientating it

from its original goodness. Finally, we are called to restore God’s goodness, since sin

cannot completely obscure it from view, and redeem it for God’s original intended use. Lest

we deceive ourselves into thinking this is a purely humanistic project for “do-gooders,” we

recognize this plan as conceived of and brought forth by God himself in Gen 3:15 when he

said to Satan: “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your

offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” As noted in Box

A, this proto-evangelism, the first gospel, promised God’s redemptive action in this fallen

world. The sacrificial system explained and practiced throughout the Old Testament

foreshadowed the ultimate sacrifice of the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ. The shedding of

blood in animal sacrifices provided a way for God’s People, Israel, to atone for their sins.

The climatic act of the redemption story was Christ’s birth, life, and death on

the cross. What gives us human beings the power to restore God’s goodness to his creation

is Christ himself who lives within us through his Holy Spirit. Paul describes how God’s

plan of redemption lives in us, thereby giving to us the message and ministry of

reconciliation.

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Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has

gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself

through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was

reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against

them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are

therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal

through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. God

made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become

the righteousness of God. 2 Cor 5:17-21

“God wants Shalom and will pay any price to get it back. Human sin is

stubborn, but not as stubborn as the grace of God and not half so persistent, not half so

ready to suffer to win its way” (Plantinga 1995, 199). Christ suffered on Golgotha and we

are called to share in his suffering as “we participate in the ongoing creational work of God,

to be God’s helper in executing to the end the blueprint for his masterpiece” (Wolters

2005, 44).

Some church traditions have conceived of redemption mostly in

individualistic terms, focusing on pietism and the individual’s personal salvation and

holiness. Others have understood redemption to be the exclusive domain of the institutional

church, claiming that the church is sacred ground and the rest of the world is secular. There

are not two realms. God created only one realm: creation. There are however, two regimes:

God and Satan. Both are battling for dominion over the whole of creation, leaving nothing

neutral or undisputed. “Nothing is neutral in the sense that sin fails to affect it or that

redemption fails to hold out the promise of deliverance. … Redemption, then is the

recovery of creational goodness through the annulment of sin and the effort toward the

progressive removal of its effects everywhere. We return to creation through the cross,

because only the atonement deals with sin and evil effectively at their root” (Wolters 2005,

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82, 83). Mark 16:15 clarifies that redemption is not just for the individual, but for the entire

community, it’s not just for the church, but for the whole world, when Jesus said to his

disciples: “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation” (italics mine).

The use of the prefix re- on many of the words used to describe redemption

(see Table 1) denote the going back to an original state, meaning that salvation does not

bring anything new, but brings new life and vitality to what was there all along (Wolters

2005, 69).

Table 3: Use of the prefix re- in synonyms for redemption

Re-storation Re-conciliation Re-generation

Re-claimed Re-newal Re-creation

Re-instated Re-formation Re-covery

Man is in need of a Savior

Man is separated from God because of his sinful condition and his sins, only

through Jesus Christ can we be reconciled with him. “For if, when we were God's enemies,

we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son” (Rom 5:10). Jesus answered, “I

am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

(John 14:6). “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven

given to men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). “For the wages of sin is death, but

the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom 6:23). Salvation comes by

grace through faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God. “That if you confess with your mouth,

‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be

saved” (Rom 10:9). Conversion is a distinctive and life-changing experience which may

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take place at one given moment or in the case of those raised in a Christian home may come

gradually culminating with the definite realization that Jesus Christ is your Lord and Savior.

His desire is that all would be saved. “He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish,

but everyone to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). Christ died for everyone. “For God so

loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not

perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).

The story of redemption for a 10-year boy

If I were to describe the redemption story in terms my ten-year old son

would understand, I would describe creation as a perfect world, complete harmony,

everything and everyone completely good, not a piece of junk it in. Then Satan invades the

Garden of Eden because Adam and Eve gave him permission. He is the evil usurper and the

Fall ushers in sin which ruins every single thing in creation. Nothing has escaped its stain.

However, creation still retains its God-given goodness. Sin does not belong so evil will

never be on par with good. But, clearly, creation is occupied territory by Satan and his

demons. However, God has a plan: Throughout the Old Testament God formed a people,

Israel, with the mission to bring his redemption to earth. A counter offensive is launched by

God in Jesus Christ, to reclaim His rightful domain. The King of kings lays claim to his

Kingdom through his powerful miracles, preaching, and signs of wonder. Christ establishes

a foothold in creation; a beachhead like the Allied forces did on D-Day at Normandy.

While Jesus was on earth he clearly demonstrated who the boss was. Even the evil spirits

obeyed him and acknowledged his Kingship and power. D-Day has happened, but V-Day is

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yet to come, like in WWII. We live in the times between the invasion and victory. We are

assured of victory, but still need to engage in fighting a fierce battle. The battle for creation

still has its casualties, and you will die if God does not save you. The problem is that

because Adam and Eve sinned, the whole human race got contaminated with the deadly

disease of sin. We deserve to die. God is holy. We are not. God wants you to join his army,

he has chosen you to be on his team. But the only way we can get on God’s team is if we

pair up with God’s Son, Jesus. We must become partners for life, with him being the boss.

Once you join up, it’s a pact for life. God has called you to fight this kind of spiritual battle,

you need to learn how to fight, he has given us special armor and weapons, and best of all

since we are on his team, he promises us his company, the Holy Spirit living within us.

Plus, we do not fight alone; we are part of God’s army, the church, made up of many

members, both here where we live, as well as all around the world. Remember, when God

decides its time, Jesus will come back and restore his Kingdom and renew heaven and earth

with a new city with the best of all civilization, unmarred by sin. For now, this whole time

God is holding back evil, so it does not completely take over creation, in order that as many

people as possible can be brought into his Kingdom. When Jesus returns, Satan will be cast

out and defeated forever.

Common grace

“For now, God is holding back evil.” The doctrine of common grace is the

belief that there is a non-salvific attitude of divine favor toward all human beings, a type of

divine empathy, manifested in several ways, as described by Mouw (2001).

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1. The bestowal of natural gifts, such as rain and sunshine, upon creatures in

general.

2. The restraining of evil/sin in human affairs, so that the unredeemed do not

produce all of the evil that their depraved nature might otherwise bring

about.

3. The ability of unbelievers to perform acts of civic good.

4. God’s direct sustaining, up-holding activity upon creation without which the

earth would self-destruct.

Due to common grace we can, through discernment, identify traces of the

Spirit’s work in the larger creation and in all people. We will never go anywhere where

God himself has not first been, nor will we meet anyone, whom God has not loved first and

sought after. We partner with God, playing a part of his story with his creatures and all of

creation.

Second coming-Shalom restored

There are many passages that speak of the “not yet” aspect of God’s

Kingdom, like in Rom 8:30 when Paul writes that “those he predestined, he also called;

those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.” We anticipate that

glorification in the end times. Jesus, when he administered the Last Supper to his disciples

speaks about the Kingdom of God in a future sense (Mark 14:25; Luke 22:16-18). The final

episode of the now and not yet Kingdom of God promises to be a grand finale that “no eye

has seen, no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived—the things God has

prepared for those who love him” (1 Cor 2:9). We can only imagine what the new heavens

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and new earth will be like if we contemplate the very best that this life has to offer and then

multiply it umpteen times.

Within church traditions there are many different interpretations of the exact

timing and sequence of events regarding the end times, but one thing all Christians agree on

is that Jesus is coming back in person (John 14:3; Acts 1:11). Another aspect of Christ’s

return will be the restoration of creation into a new heaven and a new earth. We will not

return to the Garden of Eden, but Shalom will be restored in the heavenly city of New

Jerusalem. For the rest of eternity, “the kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of

our Lord and of his Messiah, and he will reign for ever and ever” (Rev 11:15).

Epistemology: How do we know?

Downs (2012) rightly points out that education centers on the

epistemological question of knowing. We aim in education for students to know God and to

know the Bible, but before we can proceed with this task, we must ask how we can know

anything.

Human beings can know the world around them and God himself because

God has built into them the capacity to do so and because he takes an active role in

communicating with them. God is the all-knowing knower of all things, so we can be the

sometimes knowing knowers of some things (John 1:1-9). God’s intelligence is thus the

basis of human intelligence. Knowledge is possible because there is something to be

known—God and his creation. Knowledge is possible because there is someone to know—

the omniscient God and human beings made in his image. God has structured the cosmos so

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that it is intelligible, orderly and meaningful. By using our senses we can comprehend this

subjectively, not flawlessly, because the Fall effected creation (Sire 2004a).

General revelation and Special revelation

Truth exists and it can be known. “The fact that truth exists and we can

know it is because of God’s divine revelation, both the General revelation (creation which

‘speaks’ of the greatness of God) and His Special revelation (the Word which holds the

record of redemptive history). Psalm 19 speaks of both of these revelations. As believers,

we must value both man’s inquiry into General revelation through science and his inquiry

into theology; nevertheless, we recognize that both are prone to error” (Downs 2012). On

the basis of this doctrine of divine revelation, both General and Special revelation have a

common source (God) and he reveals truth in both modes. Downs explains the “notion of

the unity of truth which declares that ultimately all that is true fits together into a unified

whole and therefore can be known in a reliable way… Revelation is absolute, but our

understanding of it is relative” (2011, 104).

In General revelation God speaks through the created order of the universe,

Rom 1:19-20; Ps 19:1-2, which includes history as well. This knowledge is available to all

of humankind and we will be held accountable for what we do with that knowledge.

General revelation has access to our conscience, to our reason:

The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness

and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since

what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it

plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—

his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being

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understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.

Rom 1:18-20

Special revelation is God’s disclosure of himself in the Bible and in

supernatural ways, like when God appeared to Moses at the burning bush and when he gave

the Ten Commandments to Moses. Heb 1:1-3 makes it clear that Jesus Christ is God’s

ultimate Special revelation. Jesus has made God known to us in very fleshly terms (John

1:1, 14).

In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times

and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son,

whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the

universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation

of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had

provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in

heaven. Heb 1:1-3

Epistemologically speaking, the Bible is the quintessential source of true

knowledge, against which all other knowledge is examined and interpreted, whether that be

knowledge gained through our reason, our experiences or that of others. This Christian

epistemology is utter foolishness to a rationalist, empiricist, or intuitivist who recognize no

authoritative source of truth outside of themselves.

Table 4 provides a summary of General and Special revelation (Downs

2011, 2012).

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Table 4: Summary of General and Special Revelation (Downs 2011, 2012)

Categories General revelation Special revelation

Content Speaks generally about the existence of a

creator and something of the greatness of the

creator. Includes the natural law of created

order.

Holds the record of redemptive history and

the mystery of the cross which is not

possible to hear and understand from

looking at creation.

Audience Open to all people everywhere. Anyone can

look at nature and see the fingerprints of the

Creator.

Not available to all people because it is

understood only by those to whom God has

given his Spirit (1 Cor 2:14)

Particulars It is because of General revelation that all

people are responsible for knowledge of God.

The invitation to believe is open and revealed

to all.

The purpose of parables was to hide the

truth. (Mark 4:9-12)

Inquiry

(since both are human

endeavors, they are

prone to error)

Natural and social sciences, arts, humanities

are the means of disciplined inquiry

Theology in its many different forms is the

disciplined means of inquiry (Biblical,

Historical, Systematic, Applied, etc.)

Noted in Scripture Rom 1:19-20, Ps 19:1-6, Ps. 8:1-4 Heb 1:1-3, Ps 19:7-10, 2 Tim 3:16; 2 Peter

1:21

The witness of the Holy Spirit is also a means of knowing as is reason and

intuition. God gave man a rational, logical mind, and all truth being God's truth, man can

find truth in the world around him. “The Christian educator can incorporate God's truth

wherever it may be revealed in the created world in ways that reflect humanity's God-given

creativity” (Pazmiño, 1988,13).

The hiddenness and mystery of truth

Although we make disciplined inquiries into General revelation through the

sciences and into Special revelation through theology as well as “undisciplined inquiries”

through personal Bible study and life in general, since we are finite and flawed human

beings we will not achieve a full inerrant interpretation and understanding of divine

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revelation. Moreover, there is a hiddenness to our knowing of truth, much like the way we

see a round sphere, like the moon. We can only see part of it, there is another part hidden to

us. That hiddenness may be visible to others because they have a different vantage point.

This leads me to affirm the communal nature of truth, not just because others contribute

unique insights, but because God’s truth is so rich so as to need a plurality of others’

perspectives and interpretations to do it justice (Meek 2003).

The Prophet Isaiah in chapter 55:8-9 paints a picture for us to envision just

how finite our knowledge is compared to God’s, how much mystery there is to life, and

how far we are of ever understanding God’s ways and thoughts. Isaiah 55:8-9 “For my

thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD. As

the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my

thoughts than your thoughts.” In education, our model of knowledge has to accept mystery

and be at peace with not knowing what God is doing. Likewise, we must respectfully

hesitate or proceed with the utmost caution in trying to explain why God does what he does.

It is far safer to say: I do not know why God allowed this or that to happen, but I can speak

to you of his character, of who he is.

My own personal reflections on how I know

What starts my knowing? I believe knowing has a number of different

sources, one such source are directions, like a book that I read, a teacher I listen to, or an

expert I dialogue with. The more authoritative I consider the source to be (like Special

revelation), the more confident I feel about my knowing. In addition to receiving directions,

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a second way my knowing is “kick-started” are “trigger events.” When an unforeseen

circumstance occurs, like my mother’s death, or some dilemma disorients me, like when my

husband and I struggled with infertility. God uses these events to trigger the beginning or

the continuation of an act of knowing. These trigger events usually make me realize that my

old way of thinking, of making meaning, do not work. I cannot make sense of my

experience, which leads me to another source of knowing which is my lived experience.

While this may sound quite “post-modern,” my own reactions, feelings, intuition, and

imagination can serve as a guiding force to knowing, or at least can give me clues.

Clues are important to my acts of knowing because God made us with an

innate desire to make sense of our world. All I am living, hearing, experiencing, reading,

receiving through directions, or trying to figure out are not isolated pieces of information,

they are clues. If each clue were a dot, I find myself going through the process of

connecting the dots to make a pattern. Over a sustained period of time, suddenly or

progressively, I will “get it.” The best analogy I have read about this “getting it” compared

it to focusing on a “three-dimensional magic eye” (Meek 2003). Magic eyes are those

pictures that you have to stare at for a while until you finally focus in on the image within

the image (like the dolphin within the blur of what looks like a jumble of dots). Some

people are very adept at doing that; others of us take a while to finally focus. I see myself,

over the years, getting better and better at focusing.

What does it take to focus? To finally bring the initially unseen object into

focus takes the integration of active and skilled human efforts. Skills are required like

critical thinking, reflection in action, and a commitment to act on what I know, even though

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I am not 100% certain (Brookfield 1987). I have had to learn to identify and challenge my

own assumptions, beliefs, values, and biases in light of Scripture as well as what others say

and believe. I have to hold onto the focal pattern, if I look away, I can quickly lose sight of

the image, likewise, to really know more, I have to sustain my focus over time.

I have seen evidence of this in my own life with the death of my mother

when she was 60 years of age. After she died, I distinctly remember focusing on this

discovery: “Things don’t always turn out the way you think they should or planned.” I had

grown up believing that for us as Christians, if we lived the way the Bible taught us, things

would work out well. When my mother got sick, we prayed, we believed in faith God

would heal her of cancer, but he chose not to even though my mother was a very godly

woman. That trigger event, as I grappled with its implications, reflected on it with others,

and talked to God about it, brought into focus that simple truth. It wasn’t until years later,

when my husband and I struggled with infertility that I discovered a partner truth pattern:

Indeed, things don’t always turn out the way you think they should or planned; but, God

always has our best in mind. Knowing that truth, my husband and I acted accordingly, we

held a private campfire ceremony where we conscientiously relinquished our natural desires

for biological children (which we had written down) and offered them up to the Lord as a

burnt sacrifice. We committed to embracing God’s best for our lives, with joy and hope for

the future, knowing we were surrounded by a noble cloud of witnesses who had also not

received on earth the promise that was given to them (Heb 11). (Side note: God, in his

sovereignty, miraculously enabled me to get pregnant—twice—in spite of a medical

condition that completely precluded it! God gave us two miracle children!)

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So, in summary, I know because of the authority of the source itself, because

of my own personal experience sustained over a period of time, because of the experience

and reasoning of others whom I trust, and because the knowledge has been tested with my

own God-given reason in action and found to be tried and true. I believe acts of knowing

involve both cognition and action, the Bible says you cannot know apart from doing, lest

you deceive yourself (James 1:22-25).

To contrast my Christian theistic epistemology with the perspectives of a

rationalist, empiricist and postmodernist, I have drawn from Sire’s book, The universe next

door: A basic worldview catalog (2004a, 214-241). Within the worldview of rationalism or

empiricism, one would believe that human reason is how human beings know anything.

One needs only accept what is based on facts and observation and on the assured results of

scientific investigation or scholarship. Human beings have the power to reason and think

rationally. Individuals have the power and autonomy to define themselves. Man creates his

own destiny. A postmodernist might counter that we do not “know”, we “construct”

meaning. Knowledge is not discovered because it does not exist and even if it does, it is a

mystery. Truth is a human construct; it is not something external to us, outside of us,

derived from a God (who does not exist). To claim to have truth applicable to everyone else

is to risk an imperialistic intolerance towards others. Human beings can have meaning, for

all one’s stories are more or less meaningful but one cannot have truth. Nothing one thinks

can be checked against reality. Apart from human’s linguistic systems, no one can know

anything. All language is a human construct; it does not determine the “truthfulness” of the

language, only the usefulness. Example: Truth is whatever we can get our colleagues (our

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community) to agree to. If we can get them to use our language, then—like the “strong

poets” Moses, Jesus, Plato, Freud—our story is as true as any story will ever get. No one’s

story is truer than anyone else’s story. Does your story work? That is, does it satisfy the

teller? Does it get you what you want—say a sense of belonging, a peace with yourself, a

hope for the future, a way to order your life? It’s all one can ask, so says postmodernism.

Role of Holy Spirit in education

“Education is grounded in the pedagogical efficacy of the Holy Spirit,

although human teachers (and parents) play a crucial role. The Spirit works as the inner

teacher who invites, persuades, and (trans)forms us but does not coerce or control us”

(Hodgson 1999, 30). Hodgson clarifies how God teaches through educing or leading forth

the human spirit, drawing out our intrinsic capabilities, how education is really growth in

wisdom which is evoked by God’s wisdom, and how God himself is our teacher. The early

church fathers, Origen, Gregory, Augustine, Aquinas, and others, saw the Holy Spirit as the

wise educator, the Inner School Master, the interpreter of God’s Word. Hodgson quotes

Aquinas: “God alone teaches interiorly and principally while humans teach man exteriorly

and secondarily” (Hodgson 1999, 60). This quote elevates the Holy Spirit to his proper

place and places us human being in our rightful place. Before I teach, I would always pray

for the Holy Spirit to illuminate the students, but often it was a perfunctory prayer, with me

asking for the Holy Spirit’s help, as if I was the Master Teacher! I understand that human

teachers do not displace the Holy Spirit, but rather work through him, since only the Holy

Spirit can penetrate minds and hearts. It today’s overlapping ages of modernity and

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postmodernity, it well to remember Calvin’s insight that the “illumination of the Holy

Spirit replaces the inner light of reason.” Teachers would teach to no effect were it not for

the inner Schoolmaster—God’s teaching is foolishness to us unless it is spiritually

discerned (1 Cor 2:6-16)., Being immersed in the waters of humanism, I confess to having

attributed to myself as a teacher, a far greater role than deserved! I recognize my finiteness

as a human teacher, and utter dependence on God to illuminate the minds of the students.

Nature of the church as an institution and as a community

The Church universal, meaning down through the ages and all around the

world, serves as a type of school, the school of the Holy Spirit. Hodgson rightly points out

that a “certain structuring or ordering of the work of the Holy Spirit is required to resist the

claim of anyone—fanatics, tyrants, psychopaths, televangelists, white supremacists,

ordinary citizens—to be inspired by the Spirit and to speak on behalf of God” (1999, 33).

The Church structures and organizes the accumulated knowledge of God gathered down

through the ages into coherent doctrine and orthodoxy. This “school” has persons appointed

to specific offices: apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor, and teacher, as Eph 4:11-13 informs

us.

So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors

and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of

Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the

knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole

measure of the fullness of Christ. Eph 4:11-13

This “school” is the Body of Christ and as a community forms a powerful

role in education. “The church—the people of God—is essential to the gospel. Jesus, the

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head of the church, made provision for the communication of the good news to many

different cultures in the succeeding centuries by forming a community to be bearer of this

good news. The identity of that community is formed by its mission—its being sent by

Jesus—to make known the good news of the Kingdom” (Wolters 2005, 122). God’s plan is

that the church both communicate and embody the good news, giving the world a live,

three-dimensional picture of his Kingdom. Acts 2:42-47 paints a vivid picture of how the

early church embodied this good news. Our mission is to do Christ's work; the church is the

locus or place of these eschatological realities. It is the place where Jer 31:31-34 and Is 9:7

take place, we are justified, being sanctified, the Spirit is present, and social justice is in

part reflected. The Church is God's instrument to continue Christ's work. We are to be

Christ's representatives in this world, we are his hands to reach out to touch hurting people,

we are his feet to take the gospel to those who have not heard the Good News. “I tell you

the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even

greater things than these, because I am going to the Father” (John 14:12). The church is to

reflect what heaven is going to be like.

The concept of community within a Western individualistic society is

difficult to grasp. The Epistles strive to convey the communitarian nature of church with the

use of the phrase “one another.” These are just a few references: 1 Cor 12:25, 16:10; Gal

5:13, 6:2; Eph 2:18, 4:2, 4:25, 5:20-21… The message of redemption in the individual is

evidenced in the community through other-centered love and care for “one another.” Other

concepts related to the church include the fact that she is the Bride of Christ (Rev 21:9) ,

she is a Body, made of many parts (1 Cor 12:27).

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BOX C: AIMS OF EDUCATION

What are the specific aims of education? For many, education aims to dump

content on the students or tell them what they need to know in the most time-efficient way.

Some educators may see their aim on more pragmatic grounds like teaching certain skills,

helping their students get jobs, or be more marketable. I believe, as noted in Box A, that

education is a redemptive activity in the now and not yet Kingdom of God.

Every act in the name of education could be used by God to provide

redemption in the sense of restoring Shalom, and restoring things back to

how they ought to be for both the learner and the larger community. Like

Jesus, our teaching should grow out of special motive that seeks the good of

the other and the glory of God. It should be understand as a means by which

God’s grace might be realized better by the learner because we teach with

the vision of the Kingdom informing both our activity and our content.

Downs 2011, 111

Aim: Development towards Christlikeness

Being that our ultimate purpose is to glorify God and enjoy him forever, the

one who lived on earth and brought him the greatest glory was his son, thus the aim of

education to promote development towards Christlikeness. We want to promote the kind of

growth that will enable us to glorify him the most. “Dear friends, now we are children of

God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he

appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is” (I John 3:2). Paul speaks of his

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efforts to see Christ formed in the believers, “My dear children, for whom I am again in the

pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you” (Gal 4:19; Eph 4:13).

The greatest need of the human race is to regain the completeness of the

image of God which was lost in the Fall. The reason we are not able to

glorify God in all that we think and do is because we have been children of

the Devil. Christ died and rose again in order for us to be restored. We must

be born again into God's family. Then we need to grow more and more into

the likeness of Christ. This is the aim of Christian education -- to be born

into God's family and to mature toward the likeness of Christ. Our aim is to

promote natural and supernatural growth. Yet, we know that we shall not be

like Him until we see Him as He is. In some sense, then, we can never fully

achieve the aim of Christian education this side of heaven. Plueddemann

2007, 3

This aim contrasts greatly with a more humanistic aim of education which

believes in human reason and effort to find its way toward the truth and perfection with no

outside help needed. Table 5 contains a number of aims contrasted with mis-directed aims.

Table 5 Aims from a Christian perspective contrasted with mis-directed aims (Plueddemann 2007)

Aims of development from a Christian perspective Mis-directed aims of development Growth is an inner, active and continuous process toward becoming all

God created us to become (imago dei). To be sure, outward behavior must

change as we become more Christ-like. But such behavior is an indication

of heart development, and is not an aim. When the indicator, or outward

behavior becomes an aim, we are really teaching people to become

pharisaical.

Growth is aimed at outward behavioral character traits that

are pre-determined and measureable and quantifiable. This

aim results in measuring religious behavior or religiosity

rather than inner "heart development.” People with polite

character traits are not necessarily godly people.

Aims are not end points, but directions. We can never check off the list of

the fruit of the Spirit as something finally accomplished. We can never

fully say we have accomplished love, so now it is time for us to get to

work on joy, and next year peace, and maybe before I die I'll get to self-

control. Growth in grace is never fully achieved in this life, but it does

give us an aim or a direction. Faith, hope and love do not evidence

themselves in pre-determined and fully predicted behaviors. Our aim must

be to promote a process rather than to predict a product. That process is

growth -- both natural and spiritual growth.

Development is aimed at educational activity since we are

able to observe and quantify activity, and since we feel our

aims must be measurable; our unconscious aim becomes

educational activity. Outward behavior is not a guarantee

of inner spiritual growth. Some of the most evil people

throughout history have been knowledgeable of the Bible.

Satan probably would have no trouble getting a perfect

score on our Bible diagnostic exams.

Although Bible knowledge is important. Lois LeBar (1989) taught that the

Bible is a means for promoting growth and is not an end. Our greatest

danger in Christian education is that we make the means the end. The

result will be merely external or "outer" development.

Bible knowledge produces automatic growth in godliness,

so Bible memorization is the aim of Christian Education

and is achieved by offering prizes and rewards.

The aim of the teacher, then, is to stimulate conditions and processes

which are most likely to foster the process of growth.

A different extreme is to say aims are not necessary at all.

Some say we should just teach the Bible and let the Holy

Spirit determine aims for the learner. Yet Scripture does

give us aims.

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Nature of development

What might that development look like through the lifespan of a person?

Social scientists like Piaget (1936, 1963), Kohlberg (1968), Selman (2003), Flavell (1968),

Fowler (1995), Erikson (1959) and others have studied General revelation and discovered

that God has designed human beings to have certain underlying structures and patterns of

growth or stages that are universally visible or observable (although they may not

acknowledge God). Plueddemann (2004) describes the nature of growth and development.

• While most human development is slow and almost imperceptible there are

many suggestions of growth spurts and radical changes in the process.

• The butterfly develops in stages from the egg to caterpillar to butterfly. The

human body grows in spurts and progresses from infancy to puberty to

adulthood.

• The human brain develops in spurts or stages (Sousa 2005) which coincide

with the stages Piaget observed in cognitive development.

• Anthropologists observe stages of growth of individuals in every culture

from infancy, childhood, early adulthood later adulthood.

• Social development takes place in stages from being ego-centric to peer-

centric.

• Theologians look at least three stages of spiritual development: justification,

sanctification and glorification. Each stage is qualitatively different than the

previous stage (an ever-present theological debate centers around the

possibility of stages of sanctification.)

• Cognitive development takes place in stages from intuitive, to contextual

reasoning to abstract reasoning.

• The development of reasoning about moral issues moves from an ego-centric

perspectivism to an theo-centricism perspectivism to a universalizing

perspective.

• It is possible that faith, or reasoning about why we believe things also moves

through stages of egocentricism to ethnocentricism to a Theocentrism.

Social scientists have discovered the very structures God has forged into

human beings from their creation. The doctrine of creation reveals that all human beings are

created with the potential of growth and development so therefore the Holy Spirit can work

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through the very structures he designed. For example: Disequilibrating experiences or

trigger events, allowed or engineered by the Holy Spirit can be the means by which

development is promoted. Another example of how the Holy Spirit may work is by

bringing people into our lives who have the exact gift mix we may need at a given time,

gifted people who God uses to prompt us to grow.

Development, spoken in theological terms, is the process of sanctification

(1 Thess 4:3). Wolters (2005) defines this process whereby the Holy Spirit, in and through

the people of God, purifies creation from sin on the basis of Christ’s atonement and victory.

Jesus describes the process in Matt 12:33: “He told them still another parable: ‘The

kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about sixty pounds of

flour until it worked all through the dough.’ ” The gospel is a leavening influence in human

life wherever it is lived. An influence that slowly but steadily brings change from the inside

out. Development aimed at becoming conformed to the image of Christ, is also called

discipleship. You would anticipate seeing inward growth evidenced in outward

reconciliation in all four relationships, starting with salvation with God and obedience to

the Great Commandment to love God with all your heart and mind and strength. Then,

reconciliation may be seen in deepening your identify in Christ, as well as reconciling with

others and fulfillment of the Great Commandment to love others as you love yourself.

Redemption would likely include reaching out to others through the Great Commission as

would care for creation and society at large.

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BOX D: MEANS OF EDUCATION

Box D explains the means to achieve the aim of education (Box C) in light

of the ultimate purpose (Box A) and informed by the nature of reality (Box B). Expressed

in other words, how would I promote development towards Christlikeness, which would

glorify God and enable people to enjoy him forever given their Imago Dei, their sinfulness,

and the need for Christ’s redemption?

Internal factors in educating

How do our educational efforts aid in that process, given their external

nature? Education involves both internal and external factors. We start by recognizing the

efficacy of the internal factors. The author and finisher of our faith is Jesus Christ, it is he

who will complete the very work he has started (Phil 1:6). The Holy Spirit, who lives

within each believer, is the ultimate teacher, “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the

Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I

have said to you” John 14:26. Another internal factor we must be aware of is our creational

structure, how God made us. We have what it takes to grow, we are made to mature, grow

and develop, and it is natural. However, because of our sinful nature, our growth is mis-

directed, and in need of Christ’s redemptive power and grace to become re-directed. One

more internal factor is what goes on inside the learner. Education is not something you do

to someone. The learner participates, for good or for bad, in the process. The educational

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process is an inner, active, continuous and disciplined process, filled with ups and downs,

based on certain underlying structures and observable patterns of growth or stages.

External factors in educating

Confident that those internal factors are at work and do not depend on us

exclusively, we can focus on the external factors.

Priesthood of all believers

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special

possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of

darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you

are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have

received mercy. 1 Peter 2:9-10

The doctrine of the priesthood of all believers helps us remember that we are

chosen and set apart; that because of Christ’s once-for-all sacrifice we have direct access to

God’s presence, needing no intermediaries; Martin Luther stated that no matter one’s

vocation (shoemaker, smith, or farmer) we were all worthy of being priests, no job was

more “sacred” or held more status than another. Related to the realm of education, as

human teachers, we are not alone; we belong to a community of believers, each of whom

has been gifted for the building up the Body, what I am unable to accomplish, God will

provide someone else in the Body to do (Eph 4:12).

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Curriculum broadly understood

Another part of the external factors of education is the curriculum.

Typically, when you hear the word curriculum, you think of written materials and maybe

lesson plans. Curriculum theory recognizes that what is written in the plan and what

actually happens in the classroom may compose two different curriculums (Schwab 1977).

This issue reveals the necessity of determining what is meant by curriculum. Gress and

Purpel (2002) observe that the field of education has yet to concur on an official definition

of curriculum. I propose that there are at least six dimensions to a curriculum.

(1) Explicit, (2) implicit, (3) null curriculum as discussed in Elliot Eisner’s book,

Educational imagination (1985)

(4) Incarnated—the teacher teaches who he or she is –Parker Palmer’s book: The

Courage to Teach: Exploring the Inner Landscape of a Teacher's Life (2007)

(5) Student—whom is taught— and (6) Methodology—how they are taught—is

brought up by Kliebard (1989).

While these six dimensions are not an exhaustive list, they provide insight

into what is meant by curriculum. It should be noted that these dimensions are dynamic,

interdependent and are separated only for the purpose of analysis (see Figure: Six

dimensions of curriculum).

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Figure 6 Six dimensions of curriculum

Explicit dimension-Content

Every curriculum contains explicit goals, material that it will teach, like the

textbooks, written content, multi-media presentation, visual aids, etc. This dimension is the

most obvious to observe and easiest to examine but is only one sixth of the whole

curriculum. In the broad sense, the starting point for content would be God and his creation.

For Christian education, the Bible, God’s Special revelation is the “textbook,” playing a

predominant role, as would doctrine and theology. The content related to God’s creation

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would be organized around two models, the Essentialist and the Constructivist. Essentialist

would include the cosmogenic story of creation which presents the harmonies like the rain

cycle, symbiotic cycles, the web of life, and the interrelatedness of human, animal and plant

life. Science, both natural and social, would be part of the content as would be the arts and

humanities. The aspect of Constructivist would play a role in that we are discovering God’s

truth, building on it through naming, exploring, and categorizing.

Implicit dimension of curriculum

Throughout the teaching process, the student receives certain implied

messages that may not be explicitly spoken but are taught indirectly or by implication. For

instance, many Sunday School lesson plans call for the use of prizes, gold stars, and special

honors as rewards for attendance, bringing one’s Bible, memorizing scripture, and other

“good behavior” like participating in class. The implied message with the use of reward

systems might be that Sunday School is so unpleasant that prizes must be offered to get kids

to attend consistently. Another unintentional message may be that apart from getting a

reward, no one would want to memorize Scripture. Giving external rewards tends to

diminish or hide from view the internal reward performing that activity brings in and of

itself. One may argue that external reward systems are justified because they work. They

are expedient to achieve good behavior like Bible learning and godly conduct.

Nevertheless, extensive research has shown that external rewards and incentives fail to

promote lasting behavior change or enhance performance and frequently make things worse

(Lepper 1978; Kohn 1999). If Christian Education uses a system “just because it works” for

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the short-term but interferes with the long-term aim of Christlikeness, there is reason to

question such “expedient means” and its implied message that the end justifies the means.

Christian Education needs to examine the implicit dimension of its

curriculum, since it contains both the negative and positive messages students will learn.

This dimension is sometimes called the hidden, covert or latent curriculum and entails the

socialization process of schooling as well (Vallance 1973; Kentli 2009).

Null dimension

Schools, both formal and non-traditional, teach by what has been

intentionally chosen to teach but they also teach by what has not been chosen to teach, by

what has been excluded . The Null dimension is what the students learn due to what has

intentionally or unintentionally NOT been taught. Curriculum writers make choices about

what to include and what not to include in the explicit content. For instance, when a Sunday

School curriculum does not require the students to ever read or study the Bible for

themselves, the unintentional Null curriculum may be that Bible reading and study are not

that important, or that students cannot study and understand the Bible on their own.

Some Christians consider the study of the sciences, liberal arts and

humanities as secular and therefore, intentionally do not pursue academia. What would be

the Null curriculum of that choice? What message might be conveyed to the student? Mark

Noll’s book, the Scandal of the Evangelical Mind (1995) answers those questions. He

observes that the Null curriculum is a scandalous anti-intellectual bent whereby few

Evangelicals participate in rigorous intellectual scholarship in North America and few

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sustain a serious intellectual life because they have abandoned the universities, the arts, and

other realms of high culture. Christian Education needs to realize that what we do NOT

teach carries its own message and has long-term impact.

The Teacher-Incarnated dimension

Teachers, are made in the image of God, capable of being gifted by God to

serve others through teaching and accompanying others in their development. They are also

tainted by the Fall, capable of using their gifts, talents, and knowledge to lord over others.

“Yet, because of Christ’s redemption, they are redeemable, and once they have received the

gift of salvation they are called into relationship with God as a new creation with new gifts

and a new calling to serve him and become like him.” (Downs 2012). Teachers have a

unique way of participating with God in his redemptive activity, cooperating with him in

the ministry of reconciliation in the lives of the students. Teachers also cooperate with

God’s redemption activity in creation at large through the particular discipline or subject

matter they teach. Teachers need to be aware of this dual participation in God’s redemptive

activity by discerningly teaching what is true according to God’s Word and integrating their

understanding of Scripture and faith into their discoveries and investigations of his created

order. It is worth remembering that because of God’s common grace and providence and

Imago Dei, many unredeemed teachers exhibit tremendous gifts, talents, and exercise a

positive influence in the teaching profession, as scientists, inventors, and discoverers.

With regards to the role teachers play in relationship to the written material,

“teacher-proof curriculum” is an oxymoron since who teaches the curriculum makes all the

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difference in the world. The teacher teaches who he or she is—for better or worse---

together with the explicit curriculum (Palmer 2007). No matter how much is provided

explicitly in the curriculum package, a living human being is required to mediate, to stand

between the content and the student. Recognize that to a large degree, a good teacher can

take the worst written material and turn it into an excellent class. Likewise, a poor teacher

can take the best-written material and turn it into a low-Kingdom impact class. This reality

points to the absolute necessity of establishing a systematic approach to forming quality

teachers. There appears to be a wide range of approaches used to determine who will be the

teachers in Christian Education. In the church setting, some churches seem to have a “we

will take any warm, willing body,” others recruit through “guilt,” others require an

interview, application, selection, and training process, still others would add steps of

background checking and matching the person’s spiritual gifting with the educational

setting. However, even with a well-defined process, with few exceptions, the assumption is

that Christian teachers already evidence in their Christian walk the content of what they are

teaching. But, there are very few mechanisms in place to verify, evaluate, or assess whether

or not the teachers are living out the curriculum in their lives. This can be costly oversight

due to how the Kingdom of God is negatively impacted when teachers do not incarnate the

content they are teaching, thus the warning of James 3:1 “Not many of you should become

teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more

strictly.” When the teacher does not incarnate or live out the Biblical values and truths, the

students recognize this incongruence and rightly accuse the teacher, and sometimes the

whole church of hypocrisy.

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Teachers are co-learners with the students since neither are omniscient, only

God has unlimited knowledge, awareness, and understanding. This fact brings a sense of

equality and humility between the teacher and students. Paideia is the Greek word used in

“bring up or nurture” in Eph 6:4 “Parents, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring

them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.” Paidea is the leading forth or drawing

out of a child’s God-given intrinsic capabilities, by teaching or showing them the way

which is the mentality a Christian teacher should embody (Hodgson 1999, 7). Teachers

serve as active facilitators of the learning process that students undergo, they are co-

teachers with the Holy Spirit.

Student—whom is taught?

Kliebard (1989) notes that one is bound to take into account not just the

thing to be taught but who is taught—the student. The student is a human being created in

the image of God, worthy to be treated in a dignified manner. The student will grow and

mature along the natural stages the Creator has delineated. Because we are fearfully and

wonderfully (Ps 139) students are endowed with tremendous potential, creativity, talents,

abilities, and gifts that can be developed for God’s glory and the common good.

At the same time, the student is a fallen, sinful creature, evidencing an

inclination to do what is wrong, therefore in need of re-direction and guidance. Because of

their fallenness, students may be inquisitive, but about the wrong things. Students may be

motivated by rewards and punishments and not by the love of learning. They may be

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competitive and out to win at all costs, with little consideration for the needs of others.

They may be heart-hearted, resistant to the voice of God and of others who mean them well.

The student, like every human being, is an object of God’s holy wrath, in

need of Christ’s redemption. Once a student responds to Christ drawing him or her into a

personal relationship with him, Jesus begins the inner work of redemption, transforming a

reluctant student into an eager learner, intent on discovering the goodness of God’s divine

revelation in the Bible and in the world at large.

The student is often overlooked when developing a curriculum. Who is

taught should determine to a large extent both the content and the methodology. The age

and stages of development of the students need to be considered as well as where they are

in their spiritual walk. The students also determine how content is taught since younger

children have different needs than adult learners. Another aspect that is worth repeating is

that the student is not to be considered a passive object like a sponge or an empty recipient

to be filled. Students are active participants in their own learning and need to be treated

with dignity, and invited into the process. Palmer (2007) challenges teachers to involve the

students in the educating process by prompting them to ask themselves: What is it about

you as a student that will allow great teaching to take place? This question points out the

dynamic and mutuality between the teacher and the student, it’s a two-way relationship as

pointed out previously under internal factors of educating.

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Methodology—How it is taught?

How the curriculum is taught, how it is mediated, presented, posed, and

tested greatly impacts what the students learn. “The way one approaches teaching any

knowledge inevitably impacts what knowledge gets conveyed (Kliebard 1989, 4). How one

teaches carries its own message as pointed out by McLuhan (1994) “the medium is the

message.”

The methodology I suggest carries the message of redemption, in that it

follows the “Creation—Fall—Redemption” sequence of Wolters (2005). Throughout the

entire curriculum, understood in its six dimensions, a Christian teacher needs to highlight

for the student the good creational structure that is evident in whatever subject is taught, be

it from General or Special revelation. Then, the teacher needs to help the students visualize

how God’s goodness has been mis-directed by sin. It is important for the students to

identify and name how sin has marred God’s original plan. Lastly, the teacher should bring

to bear how Christ can redeem what sin has broken. The teacher would accompany the

learners in this process, either at the knowledge and understanding level or the wisdom

level of helping them make wise choices, for instance, praying with them to confess their

sin, to forgive other’s sin, ask God for healing and restitution, etc. This three-part sequence

of how the curriculum should be taught, mediated, presented, and posed to the students is

one way teachers can make education a redemptive activity. This external process could be

used by the Holy Spirit in the internal process of renewing the mind of the students (Rom

12:1-2). From knowledge could come understanding from which wisdom could come, and

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when applied to the broader areas of life, wise choices could be made, all of which is

motivated by a desire to glorify God.

Process objectives

If the aim of Christian education is to foster a process of growth towards

Christlikeness (Box C), then the means (Box D) for promoting the process is of utmost

importance. The use of “process objectives” helps the teacher to guide what happens, at

least externally, in the classroom, recognizing that there are internal factors over which the

teacher does not have control. i.e. the Holy Spirit, what exactly the student learns, etc.

“The job of the teacher is to compel reflection on life and the Bible, together with other

students, in order to facilitate growth toward Christlikeness” (Plueddemann, 1992).

“Process objectives” guide the teacher to tie these three elements together –Divine

revelation (top rail), Life experience and practice (bottom rail) and others or the community

(middle rail). (See Figure 7: The three rail fence1).

1 The "rail fence model" was first developed by Ted Ward and Sam Rowen as a curriculum

model for theological education by extension. "The Significance of the Extension Seminary," (1972)

Evangelical Missions Quarterly, 9, 1, 17-27. Later used by Jim Wilhoit, Christian Education: The Search for

Meaning.(1991)

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Figure 7: Three rail fence (originally Ted Ward and Sam Roven 1972)

Plueddemann (1992) suggests the following process objectives as a

methodology for the teachers to plan their classes. Each teacher is free to choose the

specific educational activities (lecture, small group discussions, debate, journaling, games,

simulations, etc.) with which to accomplish these process objectives. The aim is for the

teacher to tie the three rails together and help the students build fence posts.

Bottom Rail: Stimulate students to reflect on their own personal experiences, the

content, emotions, and interpretation. Start with the felt needs of learners rather than

from the theoretical knowledge of Special or General revelation.

Middle Rail: Encourage students to interact with each other on the significant

issues relating to Scripture or personal experience.

Divine revelation

Others

Life experience-- Practice

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Top Rail: Challenge students to interact with Scripture, to observe, analyze,

interpret, and discover relationships between their experience and Divine revelation.

Dialectic tension between the rails: Facilitate the discovery of relationships

between the experiences of the students, and their insights from Scripture. We must

then help the learner to see his or her own experience in light of the authoritative

Word of God. When we compare Scripture with experience, we sense

disequilibration. Such disequilibration can be used by the Holy Spirit to convict us

and motivate us to put our experience and life more into submission or equilibration

with Scripture. The process is often best done in a community of learners. The job

of the teacher is the Word, the Spirit and the body of believers. The essence of

interaction must compel thinking and action in the learner, relating experience to the

Bible.

Bottom Rail: Help students to plan "life changes" in their behavior, attitudes,

values or worship as a result of the new insights of the relationship of Scripture to

life. Encourage the students to help each other to plan life change.

Plueddemann (2007) offers a few words of caution as the teacher chooses

the appropriate educational activities with which to compel reflection on life and the Bible,

together with other students, in order to facilitate growth toward Christlikeness.

Remember that the Bible is a means for promoting maturity in Christ and was not

intended by God to be an end in itself. Such thinking is radical since many educators

figure that once the students have memorized Bible verses, their job is done.

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Christian education methods are still too often characterized by tactics which intend the

learner to be passive. Brain and social science research has shown learning to be an

active process, requiring thought, action, critical reflection, and socialization to be key.

Many Christian educators choose methods that are so dependent on external motivation

and external behavior that we may actually hinder inner growth in grace. Too often we

seek to control outer behavior rather than to compel active reflection.

We tend to use gimmicks to get the attention of the students, but such gimmicks seldom

start with the felt needs of students, nor do they eventually lead them to an inner sense

of their real needs, which is our goal.

Methods based on technology have only limited potential. Technology can be useful for

transmitting information, but usually by itself, does little to foster the process of critical

reflection and action in the learner.

Methods designed to just provide fun tend to focus only on experience, without

providing content or stimulating reflection on content.

Social learning theory provides an inadequate model for method. Scripture must be free

to critique society.

Modeling by itself is not a good method for stimulating critical reflection between

Scripture and experience.

Institutional structure

In my context of Christian Camping International, Latin America (CCI/LA)

we currently exist in nine different countries. As a formal institutional structure we are an

association where individuals, churches, parachuruch ministries, and camp sites become

members in their given country. They are all at the same level as members. On an

organizational chart, above the members are a team of volunteers some of whom form part

of the Board of Directors and others who serve as instructors, offering training courses,

workshops, and advice to the members. I form part of the executive staff which oversees

the work all over Latin America. There are six of us and we are the only full-time

“volunteers,” all of whom are on missionary status. We all live in different countries. One

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of us is the boss, Robert, a Panamanian, but the entire team practices a very redemptively

democratic style of leadership. Robert is a servant leader, who unites, mobilizes, and brings

out the best in each of us. Each of us has different gifts and talents and under his leadership,

we work in a very collaborative manner, in spite of the distances that separate us. Our boss,

Robert, reports to an International Board of Directors made up of representatives from each

of the nine member countries. Part of our organizational culture is an emphasis on

cooperation rather than competition, we hold in high esteem authenticity and vulnerability

which holds at bay distrust and secrecy. This ethos makes meetings very enjoyable,

stimulating because of our differences, but enriching since we discuss them openly. In our

individual lives we each recognize that Christ is our head and together we spur one another

on to godliness.

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BOX E: PRACTICAL IMPLICACIONS FOR EDUCATION

What might someone see if they observed a class that was being taught

under this theology of education? Recognizing that one can only observe the outward

appearance and behavior, and God sees what takes place on the inside, I will describe what

might be seen by telling a brief story.

Today is Sunday and Lisa is going to teach fifteen teenagers the timeline or

sequence of the world’s events of Creation, Fall, Redemption, and Second Coming. The

young people stay with their families during the congregational service and then after

worship in song they are dismissed in prayer by the pastor to attend their Sunday School

classes. The class of 12-15 year old girls files into the classroom and looks with curiosity at

how the walls are covered with blank newspaper print. Lisa is their teacher today and greets

them by name at the door and jokingly asks for them to hand over their cellphones as they

pick up their journals, name tags, and pencil boxes. They join in the laughter and turn their

cellphones off or give them to Lisa as they sit down around the big table. Most of them

bring their own Bibles.

Lisa starts out by asking them if they have ever played with puzzles. At first

they are a bit embarrassed to talk about puzzles since it seems childish but once one starts,

they all begin talking excitedly about their experiences putting puzzles together. Lisa asks

for more detail on their techniques and they conclude that having the big picture on the

front of the box is the key. At which point Lisa says: “What would life be like if you had

the big picture and could put all the pieces together?” There is a moment of silence. They

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are thinking. Little by little they concurred that it sure would be nice, it would make life

easier. Lisa continues, “Today, we are going to work on a puzzle. I confess that I do not

have all the pieces, nor do I have the full big picture. But maybe between us all we can add

some pieces and I can show you some of the big pieces of the puzzle.” The girls look pretty

excited to continue.

Lisa asks each student to remember all of the Bible stories they know. She

encourages them to use their Bible to write down the reference, but only if they really know

the story. For each Bible story they know, they make note of it on a puzzle piece. For each

story they recall, they note it on one piece of square cardboard. As the girls are working by

themselves or in pairs, there is a commotion outside. Lisa leaves her co-teacher in charge

and leaves the room. One of the teachers has brought his student, a 10-year old boy, and

reports that he caught him sneaking out of class. Lisa asks for each one to describe what

happened. The student said that since he was bored, he had a right to leave. The teacher

pointed out that the student had lied and said he was going to the bathroom when in reality

he was sneaking out the back window of the bathroom. Lisa affirmed the student for telling

the truth about what he did and mentioned how ingenious his escape plan was. God had

given him creativity and that was good. However, she pointed out, that his creativity and

ingenuity were mis-directed. She asked the student to venture a guess at what God’s

perspective of the whole incident was. She appealed to his conscience and he responded

that he knew it was wrong but he just wanted to hang a little fun. Lisa was starting to feel

anxious about her class so she decided to take another tack. She asked the teacher to give

the student his journal and have him write out the answers to these questions: (a) what does

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God think about what I did and what Bible passage or story tells me what God thinks? (b)

when else have I done the same thing or a similar thing at home or school? They would talk

after class.

Lisa returns to her class and at this point, the girls have written all they can

remember, they have gathered all the pieces together and compared them, removing the

repeated ones. They take their pieces to wall covered with paper. Lisa, inductively, with

Bible in hand, asks the students to name the main events of world and Bible history and

then plot them on the timeline that’s drawn like a straight line in the middle of two joining

walls. Lisa inductively brings to the discussion the events of Creation, Fall, Redemption,

and Christ’s Second Coming. Once the “big picture” is done, they place their puzzle pieces

on the wall at the appropriate place. After all their pieces are up on the wall, they sit back

and observe the “big picture”, noting where they have gaps and clumps of stories in the Old

and New Testament. They write down their observations of the puzzle in their journals and

note what they know and do not know about the Big Bible story.

To finish, each girl receives another puzzle piece on which to write their

name, jotting down some points of their story of how they become Christians. If they have

not yet made a decision about Christ, they can leave it blank, with just their name. Then

they place their “story” on the timeline of God’s meta-narrative, thus giving them an idea of

where they fit into God’s overall plan.

Lisa asks them to share their impressions of the activity and they comment

on how they would always gripe saying they have heard all these stories before… but this

big picture helped them SEE what they still do not grasp, how these stories fit together for

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God’s plan for the world, and how God’s plan has been unfolding over the centuries. Lisa

assures them that this is just part 1 of several classes they will spend on “the puzzle of

God’s story.” They say good-bye to Lisa and run off to meet their parents and friends who

are waiting for them outside.

Lisa leaves the class and finds the student and his teacher. The student does

not look too happy to see Lisa again but lifts up his journal to show her that he did write.

The student admits that he has lied before but that he rarely gets caught since he’s so good

at it. Lisa explains that sin tends to occur in patterns, not just once, but in clusters. She

says: “God loves you so much Sammy, that he planned for you to get caught. He wants you

to know that secrecy fertilizes sin and makes it grow and each time that you get away with

it, only makes the sin worse. Sammy, you don’t want to get better at sinning. Christ died for

sinners like you and I. I have a sin problem too. Maybe it’s not the same pattern but no one

is without sin. But, we have someone who can deliver us from sin.” Lisa teaches Sammy,

with the support of the teacher, to confess his sins, ask forgiveness from God and others.

Sammy asks his teacher for forgiveness too. Lisa teaches him that Christ can exchange his

lying heart with a heart that loves truth. Only Christ can do heart transplants and that’s what

Sammy needs. Lisa knows Sammy’s parents and encourages Sammy to tell them what

happened and to confess the other times that he has lied. Once Sammy has told his parents,

they all will talk about a way to help Sammy stop this habit and be redeemed by God’s

grace.

_____________the End _____________

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CONCLUSION

Parts of the above story are true, other parts are still in process, just like this

paper. This paper has attempted to elucidate the basic beliefs I hold theologically and show

their implications for education that is Christian, as the title of Lois LeBar’s (1995) book

says. Having benefitted from this process, I will advocate that other educators with whom I

have contact and influence, follow suit and conscientiously articulate their own theology of

education and then apply these beliefs to their ministry with renewed vigor. Surely then, our

redemptive activity of education would be improved for God’s glory.

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